AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File
The American people aren’t interested in defunding our police departments, but nor are we in favor of living in an actual police state. The happy medium, at least when it comes to addressing violent crime, seems to me to involve a strategy of prioritizing arrest and prosecutions of violent offenders. From both a constitutional and a practical standpoint, I can’t get on board with the gun control philosophy of banning and regulating our way to safety.
A new study from Loyola University Chicago’s Center for Criminal Justice Research, Policy, and Practice suggests that my practical concerns, at least, are well-founded (the paper doesn’t really address the constitutional issues involved). The project examined the effects of Illinois’ very tough gun laws, which make it a felony to carry a firearm without a license. According to the study’s authors, their research has caused them serious concern.
Pope Francis greets Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, during a meeting with U.S. bishops from New Jersey and Pennsylvania in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican Nov. 28, 2019. In March 2021, Francis named Tobin a member of the Congregation for Bishops, the office that advises the pope on the nomination of bishops. (CNS/Vatican Media)
Church leaders, including those in the United States, uncomfortable with Pope Francis emphasis on mercy and an attentiveness to the voices of those on the peripheries should reexamine their skepticism, according to Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, who says such priorities are here to stay.
A task force of hundreds of experts, researchers and incarcerated women delivered a lengthy report offering sweeping recommendations about how to better serve women behind bars.
An old pal sent me a link to a Tribune story with this note…
I was hoping that you would give this story and report some good play on the blog. This is two years in the making with a ton of important stakeholders involved who had put together a proposal to reduce the women’s prison population in Illinois by half. Convened by the Women’s Justice Institute, the task force issued a report that includes 250 recommendations, ranging from eliminating prison charges for basic needs, like email access and tampons, to mass commutations for women where a history of gender-based violence was not initially considered by the court system. […]